Page 92 of When Stars Collide
“Oh yeah, right,” he replied, conking himself over the head with the palm of his hand. “Duh, Jackson.”
“Yup, clearly your son.” I waved good-bye to him, watching him run the rest of the way to his mother.
“It means a lot to me that you came today.”
I looked up to Peter’s tired face, my heart beating a touch more. “Your father was a great man. I’m just sorry you and your family have to go through this.”
He nodded, his eyes tearing up. I’ve never been good at handling emotional situations, especially once the tears began to flow. It’s not because I wasn’t sympathetic, because I was. Seeing Peter and the pain he was in tore my heart in two. I’d been reared by two apathetic individuals, and I was just now in my thirties beginning to shed some of their influence. I held out my arms, taken aback when Peter met my embrace, holding me against him as his body shook. Taking in his familiar scent, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to become lost in him the way I used to what seemed like a lifetime ago. But then I remembered why it was a lifetime ago, and why I’d spent months of my own life in tears.
“You need to take a shower,” I said, pulling myself away from him, “and get some sleep. You look like hell.”
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Smiling took an effort for him, like his facial muscles had forgotten how to perform the act. “Only you would rag on someone at their father’s funeral.”
“Some things never change, eh?”
“And they never should.”
I smiled, holding back tears of my own so as not to topple the pillar of indifference I had erected. “I need to go meet Elle to talk about the edits her publisher wants her to make to her book, so I should be going. See you at the wedding?”
He nodded. “See you at the wedding.”
*****
A girly girl I was not, and so spending the afternoon at a salon—not only having my hair done, but my makeup and nails done, too—was not exactly something I woke up eager to do. Yet, here I was. I probably needed to get used to it, as in two short months, I would be spending another day being primped for Elle and Luke’s wedding. After that, I would be able to return to my Plain Jane life, where a face full of makeup was a rarity, and false eyelashes were a Halloween costume.
In a garment bag, hanging in the back of the salon, was the dress I’d purchased from Deidre’s, having taken Phineas’s advice solely because I had no idea where else to buy a dress for a movie premiere. It wasn’t like there was a store called Red Carpets ‘R’ Us, though I could make a fine argument that there should be. The girl who helped me was one of those giddy salesgirls who genuinely liked her job just as much as she liked to gossip. She told me all about the star ofSoldiers of Atlantis, Kira Capucci, and how Miss Capucci had visited their store to buy a dress for some awards show. According to Ruby, said salesgirl, Kira Capucci was affable, smelled of nutmeg, and was observed texting some mystery man as Ruby was taking her measurements down. Jaw clenched to prevent me from saying anything to the woman who could alter my dress to all but ensure I had a nip slip on the red carpet, I’d just nodded and smiled, throwing in an occasional “uh-huh” and a “you’re kidding me” at opportune moments.
After what felt like an eternity, with my hair in a French braid updo, my makeup flawless—
complete with ruby red lips that made my teeth look ten shades whiter—and my French tip manicure, I left the salon just before four in the evening, catching a cab to Phineas’s penthouse, where I would finish getting ready. Together, Phineas and I would then be taken to the premiere in a limousine for what promised to be an awkward ride.
Things hadn’t been the same between us since the night of the opera. As hard as we both tried to return to a sense of normalcy, it was obvious we were doing just that. Trying. Before, things had been so easy for us, so natural. There was never a need to try. But along with the new normal that existed between us came the memory of Phineas’s lips on mine and the intense heat that had enveloped us that night, all of which worked together to create the delicate cloud that hovered over our heads. Still, I wouldn’t change what happened between us, even if presented with the opportunity to do so.
“Clarence,” I greeted the familiar doorman in front of Phineas’s apartment building. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Miss Mena,” he greeted me, taking me aback a bit that he remembered my name.“Mr. Drake said you would be stopping by. Do you remember how to get to his unit?”
“Yes, I think I have a firm grasp on that. It’s nice to see you again.”
“Ditto, Miss Mena. Oh, and Miss Mena,” he called out to me just as I was about to enter the lobby.
“Yeah.”
“I just wanted to let you know that he seems happy with you. When I saw you two together, it was the first time in months I’d seen a smile on his face.”
“Thanks, Clarence, but it’s not like that.”
“Whatever it’s like, please keep it up. He was in a dark place when the other one left, and I like seeing him happy again.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
I held the card Phineas had given to me in front of the sensor near the elevator. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to access the elevator to get to Phineas’s penthouse. As the car began its climb, Clarence’s words rang through my head,“He was in a dark place when the other one left, and I like seeing him happy again.”
So do I, Clarence, but Mr. Drake is too damn stubborn. Honestly, I wondered if anyone could truly make him happy again.
Phineas met me at the door before I had the chance to knock. He wore a fitted tuxedo and, with his hair combed back, was enough to take my breath away.
“What, are you rich, successful, handsome, and psychic?” I asked, walking inside.
